Author:Useful_OxymoronRating: PG-13Disclaimer: Well, I don't own Willow or Tara. If I did, I wouldn't have made certain... questionable decisions in the later seasons. In any case, Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own these characters and I don't intend to make any money off them.Notes:Italics are thoughts.

Tara had waited for Willow to go to sleep before carefully disentangling herself from her lover, sneaking out of bed and belting for her cloak. After teleporting herself to her home and getting dressed, she concentrated on Faith... and found herself standing in the middle of a rave.

The multi-colored strobe-lighting and the loud music was very disorienting to her for a moment. Tara hurried to the girls' bathroom and used an empty stall to phase into reality. With her cloak wrapped around her forearm, she entered the dance floor to look for Faith.

The music pounded in her ears, and the lighting made it difficult to spot Faith. But suddenly, she saw her, bumping and grinding her away around a dancing guy while wearing one of the skimpiest tops she had ever seen. Tara was relieved to have found her and was about to walk up to her friend, when someone gently touched her arm.

Tara hurried across the dance floor, headed towards Faith. "Faith!" she called, causing the other Reaper to snap out of her trance-like state.

"T!" she called over the noise. "Hey, I didn't think this'd be your kind of sleazy dive."

"Faith," Tara replied as another dancing couple almost knocked her over. "I n-need to talk to you. It's about W-willow."

"Yo, Tommy?" Faith told her dance-partner. "Be back soon."

"Ah, crap," Faith said when she saw Tommy dancing with another girl from one of the more quiet private areas of the club. "I was working on that guy for twenty minutes! So because you've got a sure thing tomorrow, you have to mess up my chances of getting laid tonight?"

"I'm sorry, Faith, but... I'm just w-worried," Tara sighed.

"T," Faith said, sat down on the bench facing her and grabbed both of Tara's hands. "I'm not the person to go to when you want advice on making love. I'm the person you go to when you want advice on meaningless, one-night sessions of screwing. And I think you want to have Willow for more nights than one."

"Hm, good point," Faith said. "The longer it takes, the more elaborate the fantasies of the actual deflowering." Seeing how Tara looked somewhat stricken by that, Faith shook her head. "Hey, it's not as if you're a nun, Tara. You did it before."

"Yes," Tara said sarcastically. "All of two times, Faith."

"Well, that's two times more than Red has under her belt," Faith winked.

"I'm serious, Faith," Tara sighed. "I w-want to make this work. I w-want to make her h-happy."

"And you were the one telling me that there's more to a relationship than sex?" Faith winked.

Tara shot Faith a look. "You know what I mean. Willow... her ex. Her ex treated her badly. I've tried to talk to her about it, but Willow always avoids the subject."

"Well, you both have been unlucky in love," Faith sighed. "Be nice if you'd get a break every now and then, T."

Tara's eyes grew wide for a moment. "Oh, yes," she blew some air through her lips. Seriously, I'm surprised she didn't want have 'Kathy' tattooed on my forehead. I knew it wasn't going to work out on our second date, and I tried to tell her that we weren't really compatible. And Kathy just told me I was confused and decided we'd go on our third date the next day.'. "Goddess, I swear, if I don't hear that horrible Cher song until the day I die, it'd be too soon."

"Faith to the rescue," Faith's eyes sparkled. Tara suppressed a giggle in spite of herself. After the obsessive-compulsive Kathy just wouldn't leave Tara alone, Faith had started to turn the tables on Kathy by pursuing her like a maniac. Faith would actively go out of her way to seduce Kathy in an attempt to scare her away from Tara. As a highlight, Tara remembered how Faith had serenaded Kathy by singing 'Do you believe in life after love?' terribly off key while playing a ukulele.

After Kathy had thrown a bucket of water over Faith's head and yelled at her that she could 'never, ever love a slob', Tara had calmly told Kathy that Faith was her best friend, upon which, Kathy had given her a choice: her or Faith. It was no choice, really.

Of course, Tara had never wanted to hurt Kathy's feelings. She'd realized that she and Kathy were incompatible, but Kathy simply wouldn't let her go. In the end, things hadn't worked out because Kathy wanted a lover that she could mold and dominate, while Tara wanted a lover that was... sane.

But even Tara had to admit that the look on Kathy's face had been utterly priceless, when she realized Faith was serenading her outside her bedroom window

Faith remembered too, and matched Tara's smile. "Tara," Faith smiled. "It's simple. All you have to do is strip down to your underwear, do a little dance and sing: 'toucha, toucha, toucha, touch me! I wanna be dirrrrrtttyyyyy'!" Faith, as usual, sang terribly off key and hugged herself.

Tara smiled radiantly. "For the Death of me, I can't figure out why. But she d-does."

"Well, then there's nothing what can go wrong," Faith lounged back in her silky red chair. "Come on, T. Everything doesn't have to be perfect all at once. The fun is getting just a little bit better at it every time. Practise makes perfect. Do you think she'll love you less if your performance isn't perfect the first time around?"

Tara considered this for a moment. And thought of Willow, all alone in her bed. "Thanks, Faith."

"Hey, no prob. Lust is best when laced with love," Faith winked. "You really have to get freakin' lost now, T. I still wanna try to get laid tonight."

Being somewhat more sure of herself, Tara returned to Willow's home, hid her cloak and changed back into her night-clothes. Though being somewhat reassured by Faith's words, all her insecurities came hurtling back when she laid her eyes on the peacefully sleeping Willow. This is ridiculous Tara thought as she climbed into bed and hugged Willow. There's more to a relationship than sex... so much more...

At that moment, Willow mewed in her sleep and turned around in Tara's arms, pressing against her softly. To her surprise, Willow started to sing softly in her sleep: "Tara... in the sky... with diamonds.... Tara... in the sky... with diamonds...."

Tara chuckled softly in spite of herself and kissed Willow on the top of her nose. "Alright," she said softly. "No more Shatner for you, sweetie."

Waking up at 6:00 am turned out to be a little early for Willow. Tara had tried to wake Willow at least three times, and all those times, the answer she had gotten was an annoyed groan while she pulled a blanket over her head. It had taken Tara a whole stack of pancakes to finally lure her Willow from the bed and to her breakfast. Finally, the redhead emerged from the bedroom, still half asleep, but eagerly following her nose into the kitchen.

Of course, Willow being Willow, she had already prepared her things the previous weekend, as the five bags that had been waiting near her front door proved, but Tara still had some things to pack. She had collected her cloak when she was sure Willow was still in bed, ate a few pancakes and returned home to get her things in order.

About fifteen minutes later, Tara and Willow met again at Casa de Summers, where they saw Joyce fitting an embarrassed Dawn with a backpack filled with lunch-packets. Buffy was set to drive while Xander was loading in the bag. After greeting Buffy's mother, Tara moved to the car.

"Thank you," Tara smiled. She only had two bags, so she handed Xander a long gray plastic cylinder first. Upon seeing Xander's questioning look, Tara said: "They're fishing rods." Well, it's not a complete lie. There are fishing rods in there. There just happens to be a scythe in there as well. All those fishing trips with granddad are paying off again. Thanks granddad. Although she had her cloak and could go back home to get her scythe if she'd be called to collect, being too far away from her scythe never felt comfortable to her.

"Ah," Xander said. "Don't worry, we'll fit these in the car. And tell you the truth, we could probably host the superbowl in this trunk."

Buffy sat down behind the wheel. Willow and Tara settled for the spacious back seat, while Xander and Dawn were locked into mortal combat for the right to ride shotgun. In the end, Xander won out by using an illegal move; By tickling Dawn under her chin, Xander managed to distract Dawn long enough to park himself next to Buffy and lock the door.

When the car left the driveway, they all waved goodbye to Joyce while a moping Dawn sat next to Willow and Tara.

Half an hour later, the five friends were well underway to the campsite, driving through the desert. Dawn had been miffed to learn that the 'no laptop during camping trips'-rule created for Willow applied to her as well. So, Dawn was scribbling dialogue, plotlines and descriptions for her latest fics on a notepad.

"Sandwich, Dawn?" Willow asked after reaching into the backpack with all the foods Joyce had prepared for them... which Dawn had unceremoniously tossed over the backseat as soon as the car had left Sunnydale.

"Please," Dawn huffed. "I'm creating here!"

Willow shrugged and put the sandwich down next to her. Tara watched her lover, knowing what would come next. And she was right: Willow let out an obviously exaggerated fake yawn and stretched her arms into the air. When the yawn subsided, Willow sub-covertly folded her arm around Tara's shoulders and shifted closer to her.

"Willow, sweetie," Tara smiled warmly. "We're girlfriends now. You don't have to sneak an arm around me anymore. You can do that whenever you like."

Baby... Oh, how I love it when Willow calls me baby. Just the sound of that word along... Tara felt her heart warm. She looked at Willow, a sparkle in her eyes. Tara could see Willow had gotten the hint and was already leaning in. Their lips met...

"Alright, now that you've started up your computer, you should see a little icon in the bar below the screen called 'start'," Willow started. She and Tara were sitting at Willow's desk at her home. Today had been the fifth time they had lunch together. And dinners... though dinners usually evolved into long hours of conversation. Tara had let slip today that she didn't understand much about computers, and Willow had quickly offered to give Tara some pointers about computer use at her home. Tara had gladly accepted, seeing it as a way to get closer to the lovely redhead... and perhaps it would help her to finally figuring out a way how to work the computers at the public library. "Now, move your mouse to the start icon and click on it."

"Okay," Tara said and moved the mouse. "Do I click now?"

Willow blinked once... twice. Tara had just physically put the mouse on the screen and held it in place by pressing against it.

"You're kidding, right? Having a little fun with Willow?"

Tara smirked at Willow. "Maybe... just a little. If I wanna turn off the computer, I should just yank the plug out of the wall, right?"

Willow smiled and shook her head. "I see I have my work cut out for me. There'll have to be major lesson stuff going on here. It's going to take weeks, nay, months to properly educate you computer-wise. But, rest assured, Willow Rosenberg'll make a hacker out of you yet!"

Tara tried to be a good student, as Willow tried to reveal the secrets of this dreaded machine. And Willow was a good teacher, she really was... but seeing Willow had the tendency to lean close to her and lay her hand on Tara's knee during most of the excersizes, concentrating on the lessons had been rather difficult.

"Well," Tara said at the end of the lesson, not mentioning that she'd already forgotten most of the first half already. "That was, um, e-enlightening. Th-thank you, Willow," Tara said, and was rewarded with a radiant smile that could melt the polar icecaps. "How about I repay you by cooking you a meal fit for a queen tonight?"

Tara had gone out to the supermarket to buy ingredients and got to work in Willow's kitchen, constantly dodging questions from a certain nosy redhead who was dying to know what they'd be having for dinner. Tara had decided to go all out for the first home-made dinner, and had prepared Canard d'Orange in a special way which had been a closely guarded family secret ever since Tara's grandmother had roped her granddad with it.

After a lovely dinner, combined with a lovely red wine, the two girls sat on Willow's couch in the aftermath of their meal. Finally, it was Tara who decided it was time for the next move.

Willow swallowed... hard. "Me too. I mean, I'd like to kissed by you and kiss you too. Love kissage..."

Both girls closed their eyes and leaned back against the sofa, until...

"Willow?"

"Tara?"

"One of us should, um, do s-something or..."

"Nothing will happen," Willow finished nervously. "Right."

Both girls kept their eyes closed as they leaned in, but their sweet kiss was nipped in the bud when both of them smushed their noses together.

"Ow!" both girls shouted out at the same time and chuckled nervously for a moment.

Third time was the charm. This time, both girls closed their eyes at the last moment to avoid another nasty nose-collision. Finally, their lips touched. Chaste at first, the kiss started with brief a brush of lips. Tara was entranced by the sheer sensitive touch of Willow's lips of hers, but this time, it was Willow who made the next move. Willow slowly parted her lips and deepened the kiss, tentatively starting to explore Tara's mouth. Tara responded by slowly folding an arm around Willow's waist while laying her other hand on Willow's cheek. Willow responded by an embrace of her own, pulling Tara closer to her. They leaned back against the seat of the couch, simply enjoying moment.

Finally, the kiss was broken, though several brushes still followed. Tara and Willow found each other staring deeply into each other's eyes.

"Wow," Willow whispered. "I have to teach you computer stuff more often."

"Wow," Tara nodded. "I have to cook you dinner more often."

"Wanna... kiss me again?" Willow asked hopefully.

Tara knew just how to answer that question.

"Okay," Dawn huffed. "Ewwwwww..."

Willow seemed stricken, while Tara felt a little self-conscious. "Dawnie? I t-thought you were okay with us k-kissing?"

"No, it's not that, Tara," Dawn said quickly. "It's ewww because Willow just sat down on that peanut-butter sandwich and smushed it into the upholstery."

Willow looked at her jeans, now covered with peanut-butter and breadcrumbs. "Oh, no, my pants..."

"You do realize you'll be walking around with a stain on your butt, right?" Xander said. "I've read that that particular brand of peanut-butter eats right through your clothes and your skin."

"You're kidding," Buffy said.

"No," Xander said, "I saw it on sixty-minutes. Did you know that if you combine that brand of peanut-butter with cola and some Max Factor, you'll have the prime ingredients for a home-made bomb."

After suddenly finding all eyes in the car staring directly at her, Willow blushed brightly. "Uhhh... And that didn't come out right at all."

Dawn giggled at a mortified Willow. "Heheheh, Willow, you said co..."

"BUFFY!" Xander shouted at the short blonde, whom had also turned around to look at the blushing Willow. "EYES ON THE ROAD! EYES ON THE ROAD!" Willow, Tara and Dawn joined in the chorus as the car started to swerve towards the sandy desert.

Finally, Buffy managed to get the car to drive in a straight line. "Alright," Buffy spoke softly, ignoring the hyperventilating Xander sitting next to her. "If Dawnis and Will-Head could just clean up the backseat before mom sees the peanut-butter on the upholstery..."

Tara breathed a sigh of relief when Buffy had finally reached the campsite. Being in a car while Buffy was driving certainly had a way of bringing Tara closer to her own sense of mortality.

Buffy was backing into a secluded parking spot at the edge of the forest, saying just how much she hated driving backwards. A long crash sounded as the car came to a sudden stop. Looking over her shoulder, Tara could see Buffy had slammed the back of the trunk into a tree.

"Okay, car is parked," Buffy smiled and removed her seatbelt. "Tara? Willow? Dawn? Could you drag our stuff over the backseat? The trunk's sorta stuck."

A few minutes later, the gang was moving through the forest being led by Buffy. It was a sunny day, but the forest was nice and cool underneath the canopy of leaves. The path was clear and Buffy was taking point. Dawn followed suit, with Willow, Tara and Xander trailing behind them, dragging most of the bags between the three of them.

"So, Tara," Xander said. "Lotsa Aliens in this forest. Yep, Aliens up the ying-yang. Especially at night. That's when they come out to hunt. They especially like to eat blonde, blue-eyed lesbians."

"Xander," Willow warned.

"Just trying to help you two girls get a little closer together," Xander winked at Willow. "Sorta gettin' the romance going on. Romance through Aliens, isn't it sweet?"

Tara chuckled nervously for a moment. "There's no such things as Aliens," Tara said calmly. "I knew that thing in the movie was a puppet."

"Oh, really?" Xander smirked. "So why were you snuggling up to Willow during the movie, then? Trust Willow to protect you from the blonde, blue-eyed lesbian eating Aliens."

Tara shifted uncomfortably for a moment. I suppose... there are plenty of places to hide when it gets dark out here... Plenty of shadows... Shadows that drooling, snarling, stalking exo-skeletal fiends could hide in, Tara noticed she had subconsciously stepped a little closer to Willow just then.

Willow kept on walking with a bounce in her step, which was quite odd considering she was carrying the weight of four loaded backpacks. "Don't worry, baby. We won't come across any Aliens when trekkin' through these woods."

Xander stopped dead in his tracks, and looked at Willow with a sparkle in his eyes. Buffy and Dawn looked at each other for a moment in sheer horror. Tara watched Willow's gorgeous green eyes grow wide with worry and wondered what was going on here.

"STAR TREKKIN' ACROSS THE UNIVERSE!" Xander started to sing at the top of his lungs, while continuing to walk on the path. "ON THE STARSHIP ENTERPRISE, UNDER CAPTAIN KIRK!"

While Buffy was shooting Willow a miffed 'This is all your fault, Willow. You know the word trekking is a no-go area around Xander, and still you said it. How many times does this have to happen before you catch on? Don't you remember him singing this silly song in the middle of the cafeteria in high school? What are you? Stupid?'-look, Tara was just smiling, being happy to be even a small part of these wonderful people's lives.

Finally, they arrived at Lake Clarity and it was as beautiful as Willow had said. The lake was pristine, with the clearest water Tara had ever seen. There were several campsites along the shores, on the other side of the lake, which was almost a mile away. There were trees and bushes everywhere, along the shores, and the campsite that Buffy had chosen was nice and secluded. There was a small wooden pier right next to the campsite, perfect for diving into the water.

While Xander was setting up the firepit and Willow was preparing her tent with help from Buffy, Tara had agreed to help Dawn set up the tent she would share with Buffy and Xander. Usually, Buffy, Willow and Xander would bring one big tent which they could share together, but now that Tara and Dawn had joined them, they had to bring another tent for Willow and Tara to use.

Meanwhile, Dawn had insisted that she'd set up the big tent herself... with a little help from Tara, who was holding the instruction booklet. The big tent was still flat on the ground and there were metal struts sticking out everywhere. In the middle and underneath the canvas lay a Dawn-shaped lump struggling with the tent's innards.

"What are you doing under there, Dawnie?" Tara frowned.

"Sliding tab A on strut 12 into slot B of strut 3, what does it look like I'm doing?" Dawn replied while sliding it along the metal struts. "Alright," she said while crawling out from under the canvas. "All done."

"Hmmm," Tara said, looking at the mess of canvas, metal struts and haphazardly placed tentpegs. "It doesn't really look like it does in the picture." Actually, it looks more like a dead turtle.

"Yeah, well," Dawn replied, looking quite proud of her work. "Pictures are usually wildly inaccurate. Buffy always looks a lot thinner in pictures, you know? People who've seen pictures of her before meeting her in person are always amazed how fat she is."

"I heard that!" Buffy called over from the other side of the camp.

Ignoring Buffy, Dawn turned about to the tent. "It's just bad quality tent. Just look at that..."

"Um, you know, maybe we could make it more sturdy if we place some struts near the front and place some pegs further away from the tent," Tara suggested.

When the tents were set up properly and were ready for use, the happy campers unpacked most of their bags. Tara had decided she'd try some fishing later, and was working on getting the firepit ready to be able to barbecue their lunch. The others wanted to do some swimming first.

The girls had opted to change to the big tent, while Xander changed in the smaller one. Xander was the first to emerge from the tent, wearing his bermuda shorts. Buffy followed suit from her own tent, wearing a checkered two-piece. Dawn finished third and strutted around in her Sailor Moon bathing suit.

And then there was Willow...

In a red bikini...

Wow...

Wowie-wow.

Wowie-wowie-wowie-wow.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidociously wowie-wowie-wowie-wow!

Tara felt her mouth go dry when she saw Willow passing by, apparently unaware that she was currently being lusted after. Willow was a slight girl, and the sight of so much of her creamy skin and her tight midriff almost made Tara go weak in the knees.

One by one, her friends dove into the cold water, and playing splashed water at each other. After a giggling Buffy could be heard saying the words 'significant shrinkage' to Xander and a confused Dawn could be heard asking what that meant, Tara just shook her head and sat down next to the firepit.

The last, well, year of her life had been so busy and tense, as the life of a Reaper tended to be. But now she finally had time to actually relax. This camping trip was sort of like a mini-vacation to her, and, for someone who was on call 24 hours a day, and hadn't had a proper vacation in years, this was something to be cherished.

It sure looks fun... Firepit's ready for use, maybe I should join them, Tara decided and ran to the tent to find the bathing suit she had packed. A few minutes later, Tara emerged from the tent, now wearing her aquamarine bathing suit. She smiled as she walked onto the pier, getting ready for a cold dive with her friends.

Instead, all splashing and chatting stopped as all her friends in the water were looking at Tara.

"Leg-gy," whispered Xander appreciatively. Tara blushed in response and looked at Willow, floating around in the water... and found that Willow was staring at her with her mouth wide open. Tara also noticed that Willow wasn't exactly looking her in the eyes.

Tara suddenly felt very self-conscious and crossed her arms over her chest. Her first impulse was to back away across the pier, back to the tent and put on five layers of clothing... until she saw Willow rising from the water. The sun reflected off the droplets of water on her skin, her wet hair clung to her back while small goosebumps were appearing on her arms. Goddess, she looks so sexy... Tara swooned... and blushed when she realized she wasn't exactly looking Willow in the eyes either.

Willow walked up to the pier and extended her hand, inviting Tara to step into the water. Tara felt all her insecurities melting away when she saw Willow's encouraging smile. She sat on the edge of the pier, taking Willows soft hand into hers and let herself slide into the cold water.

All the while, Xander was still appreciating Tara's hotness, Dawn was still smiling silently at the two lovers, and clueless Buffy was still wondering just what the frilly heck was going on.

After some splashing around, the five friends emerged from the water, and ran to their waiting towels. Xander was the first to finish drying off and, also being the hungriest, started to work on lunch.

While Tara and Willow, still dressed in their swimwear, were chatting at the edge of the shore, Tara was surprised to hear Willow gasp and hid behind her, looking over Tara's shoulder with a frightful look in her eyes. Tara followed Willow's gaze and noticed a small frog sitting in the mud.

Tara smiled, scooped up the frog in her hand and carried it back to the waterfront. "There," Tara said. "All gone. You're safe."

Willow bolted alongside the lake with Tara in hot pursuit. The two lovers whooped and giggled as they ran away from the camp, pushing through the underbrush and avoiding large rocks. Willow jumped and slid over a boulder and challenged Tara to do the same. Tara and Willow laughed as they circled each other around the boulder for a while and, just as Tara was getting closer, Willow bolted again.

And finally, Tara caught her. Or, rather, Tara tripped over a branch and took down Willow with her when she fell. The two lovers lay laughing in the shallow water at the edge of the lake, holding on to each other.

They were holding each other...

Tightly...

Their laughter stopped, and, instead, Willow and Tara looked deeply in each other's eyes. A few seconds later, they were kissing each other hungrily. Willow ran her hands through Tara's wet hair, while Tara let her hands roam across the bare skin of Willow's back. Goddess, I love her... I want her... I want her so much... shot through Tara's mind while Willow moaned into her mouth. Faith was right. Lust is best when laced with love.

Tara felt Willow tugging at the right shoulderstrap of her bathing-suit. Eyes shut and kissing madly, Tara tried to lay Willow on her back... only to find herself and Willow unexpectedly sliding underneath the surface of the water. Oxygen became an immediate issue.

The two lovers rose from the water quickly, coughing like mad hatters.

"It was a little deep-y," Willow replied with a smile. "I'm not large with the drowning. Hey, that was literally a kiss to die for. Cause, if you hadn't broken the kissing, I'd have never noticed I was drowning. And I'd be all, 'hey, what's Saint Peter doing there, and why are they fitting Tara with a pair of wings?' That's how good a kiss that was. Wow."

It was the voice of Dawn that brought them back to reality. "WILLOW! TARA!" she shouted from a distance. "When you're done running, we've got lunch on the table! Lunch and ants! Oh, Buffy's killing the ants! Now we've got lunch with nasty ant-killing chemicals on it on the table! Well, it's not so much a table, more like a couple of paper plates! Come and get it while it's hot!"

Willow smiled. "T-tonight, baby," she spoke, again trembling with nerves. She wasn't so nervous a couple of seconds ago... Tara wondered.

"Privacy," Tara said, realizing they had chosen a rather unsecluded spot. There were undoubtedly other campers along the shores that could have spot them. "It's a g-good thing."